Bedding

[Patunia the guinea pig]

Hello.
I have always used hay as bedding for my 2 year old guinea pig but, it always goes to waste.
The bottom of her cage is about 10 inches, then the cage wiring starts, so I always fill it with 10 inches of hay, because if I didn't she wouldn't be able to reach her food or water that is attached to the cage wiring.
I do a full cleaning weekly where I take out all of the hay and replace it.
Her hay is usually flattened with pee and poo after about 2 days, I see a lot of people saying to change the hay once or twice a day and I don't really understand what they mean, do I replace ALL of the hay once or twice?
Also, I use a garbage bag that I split open and use as a liner for the cage, I usually make it so she can't reach the bag, but even when she tunnels way down and reaches it she doesn't chew on it.
I am looking for a better solution if possible where the hay stays clean and she can still tunnel in it.
I buy a 50lb hay bale and it doesn't last long at all.
Sometimes I take a cardboard panko jar and remove all the adhesive and aluminum from it, but it usually gets soaked within 2 or 3 days, so I'm also looking for a more permanent tunneling system for her.
So I know that was a lot but my main questions are for a better bedding solution, cleaning the cage daily, and a more permanent tunneling system.

Thank youu

 

[Ilovemypigs123]

Cute piggy btw I use fleece and spot clean daily (sweeping poops) and change the hay if needed usually they eat it all before it needs changing (I have 4)

 

[Piggies&buns]

Hay you throw away is never wasted! They spend a lot of time eating but also foraging, playing, snuggling into it.
It will get peed and pooped on. It’s all normal.

Her hay will not stay clean! The dirty bits needs to be removed and replaced every day. That is just life with piggies!
Piggies tend to pee where they eat so that is why the wet hay needs to be removed every day.

I see you put a plastic bag at the bottom? What absorbent layer do you use on top?
Just a plastic bag and hay won’t offer absorbency and particularly if you are not removing wet hay every day it could risk her being exposed to damp. It’s not good for her to be on wet hay.

My animals bedding is a layer of newspaper, a shavings type of bedding (called snowflake soft chip) for absorbency and then all of it fully covered with lots of hay.
I remove the hay (and snowflake soft chip) which is wet with pee every day (twice a day in winter as mine live in my shed) and then put fresh bedding and more hay in. So it may just be in the corners or a patch in the middle which needs to be removed, but I don’t replace the entire lot every day. I remove probably 20-40% of the hay and bedding in their enclosures every day (some of my animals are messier than others - I have four guinea pigs and two rabbits!).
I then do a full clean once a week where I remove everything at that point and start fully afresh.

Again with the cardboard boxes, lasting 2-3 days is totally normal. They then get thrown away and given a new one.
If you want hides which will last longer then use wooden ones.